Site Layout
In the broadest sense, there isn't much to think about for site layout: header, content, footer, and probably a sidebar. Perhaps the sidebar is on the right instead of on the left, but what more is there to say about site layout? Of course, there's a lot more to say when you start filling in the details of these broad areas of the site. And if it sounds like you already went through this with the page map earlier in this lesson, that was simply about what common content is planned for all web pages. Now you're concerned with positioning that content.
A drawing is going to be the most effective way to visualize the layout and again, while a hand-drawn outline is fine, Figure 2.4 has been done with presentation software:
Armed with an outline like this you'll have another set of criteria when eventually looking for a WordPress theme. Either the theme will have a layout close to this or the capability for you to easily customize areas of the site to match your vision. Not that you can't change your mind as you go along, but you'll have something to change.
Now there's one other important element of site layout you'll want to plan for: the homepage. Because it's meant to be an introduction to your business, it needs a different layout. In some cases the layout may not be all that different, but typically it takes on a different form, as illustrated in Figure 2.5.
The goal here is to quickly convey the key benefits of what you're offering and guide the visitor to the areas of the site with more details. The flow of the layout and where it draws your eye becomes important. You don't want to overwhelm the visitor.
Try It
This lesson does not have a step-by-step instruction other than to encourage you to make the lists and drawings outlined here. They will not only help make your site better, they can also help you learn to use WordPress by giving you specific goals – a context for why you want to use a particular WordPress function.
REFERENCE There is no video to accompany this lesson.
Section II
Firing Up WordPress
Lesson 3
Installing WordPress
Because this book covers the self-hosted version of WordPress, you need to have a hosting account on a web server. This is different from having a domain name. A domain name points to a hosting account on a server where the files and a database for a WordPress website are stored. If you don't have a hosting account, following are some things to keep in mind when looking for one.
Hosting WordPress
At www.WordPress.org, you can find a list of currently recommend hosting companies, but there are many others that are just as good. There are a few software requirements for hosting WordPress, but most hosting packages these days – even the most basic – should meet them. Still, it's best to double-check, so here's what to look for as of Version 4.0:
● PHP Version 5.2.4 or greater
● MySQL database Version 5.0 or greater
● The recommended server software is Apache or Nginx, but as long as the minimums for PHP and MySQL are met, everything should be fine.
NOTE If you're not sure how to word your question to your hosting company, the WordPress site provides you with the text for an e-mail you can send at http://wordpress.org/about/requirements/. The letter adds a third item to the list: the mod_rewrite Apache module. This module is needed for the custom permalinks feature in WordPress; although there is a way to use custom permalinks without it, it just makes life a bit easier. Most Linux servers have the module installed.
Of course there's more to choosing a host than meeting these requirements. In particular, you want to look for:
● Reliability– How often are they down? How good are their security measures? What is their backup policy?
● Support– Do you have 24-hour access? How quickly do they respond? Do they have a useful knowledge base?
● Speed– How quickly will your site load?
Don't rely on advertising or most of the so-called hosting review sites you'll find. Look for individual bloggers who have performed actual tests or provided reviews with pros and cons based on real-world experience. You can also search through the forums of hosting companies or webmaster forums to see what people complain about. And put the question to social media for direct feedback.
As Figure 3.1 shows, many hosting companies these days promote that they do WordPress hosting. Often this simply means that they offer automated installing of WordPress. That's a valuable feature, but be aware that it isn't anything special or unique.
In other cases, WordPress hosting means it offers services such as:
● Managed hosting– The host provides regular backups and performs all WordPress updating (even plugins). This can extend to offering a separate version of WordPress where you can test your site or allow only certain plugins to be used.
● WordPress support– This could include support specialists who know WordPress or detailed WordPress documentation using videos or screen shot tutorials.
● Optimized servers– This can range from ensuring that server software is configured to help WordPress and its database perform well all the way to using Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and fewer sites on a machine than the shared hosting packages most people use.
● Caching– This is like taking a snapshot of each of your pages and serving those snapshots instead of having to go back and forth to the database, and that helps speed up site loading for visitors. There are plugins for this, but they can be tricky to set up. Here the host takes care of all that for you.
Naturally, with these special hosting features typically comes a higher monthly cost. Although regular shared hosting accounts (without multiyear plans or introductory pricing) are in the $6 to $9 range, specialized WordPress hosting starts at approximately $16 per month and goes up from there.
This book shows you how to do such tasks as backups and updates, and ways to keep your WordPress site loading quickly. However, you may prefer to pay someone else to do them. Managed hosting is a cost-effective way of off-loading these important ongoing tasks.
After you decide on a hosting company and have your account, it's time to install and activate WordPress. As previously mentioned, most hosts these days have programs that enable you to do a one-click installation of WordPress, but now look at an old-fashioned manual install.
Manually Installing WordPress
If you want complete control over how WordPress is installed on your hosting account and you're comfortable working with file transfer programs (FTP) and hosting control panels (such as cPanel or Parallels/Plesk), this method is for you. Or if you're hiring someone, this can help you understand why he should not be charging for more than 15 minutes worth of work.
The steps are outlined here, but on the DVD you can watch the process in detail using cPanel, the most popular hosting control panel available. There's also a working file on the DVD with instructions